Most of the hands were out with the herd. Others were in town; it was Saturday night and they would be gone till late Sunday. A few stayed and they heard everything.
James was made to stand on a chair in the middle of the tack room. His fear was such that he was unable to think clearly and consider what was actually happening. His Uncle Nick, his large, loud, kind of scary Uncle Nick, so different from his own father, stood close, towering over him, hands on hips.
"Boy, who runs this ranch?" Nick's voice boomed and he stood so close James could feel his body vibrate. It was an odd sensation.
"You do," James answered quietly, looking at the floor.
"Damn right, I do! And when I tell ya to do something, you do it! And if I tell ya not to do something, you don't do it! Do I make myself clear?" Nick did not let up on the volume of voice.
"Yes, Sir."
"If I tell ya to stay on the main trail and not go past the south gate, you stay on the main trail and you do not go past the south gate," again, he paused. "You realize you didn't just put yourself in danger, you put Daniel in danger and you put Grace in danger? You could have fallen off that ridge and died! Daniel and Grace might have tumbled down with you. We already buried one Barkley this week and we don't wanna bury any more for a long time."
He went on at full volume. "I got a lotta men and a lotta livestock to manage and I can't have anyone just goin' off and doing whatever they like," he paused. "This is a working ranch and if you were a hired hand, you would be fired."
Nick continued to stand close, hands on hips, and let his words sink in.
James gave no response but he was listening and he was starting to cry.
"This ranch is too big for one man to run on his own," Nick continued, "so I'm not the only boss here. Heath is a boss and if we're not here, Tom and Will are in charge. That means, when we tell ya to do something, you do it."
Nick's voice had lost some its edge and volume and he could see James was thinking about what he was saying.
"I can't fire you 'cause I didn't hire you. You're here because you're family but what you did today was wrong and you gotta be punished for it."
Heath was standing nearby and decided to step in now. Nick was relieved to step aside.
"James," Heath said, his voice calmer but without much warmth to it, "your father has decided Nick and I are in charge of your punishment and we think that since you think bein' a cowboy is so great, we're gonna let you experience life as a hired hand."
"Tomorrow," Heath said, "while the rest of us are having a picnic, you'll stay here and do some of the work that needs to be done. Work the hands do"
James looked up at Heath. This sounded like they didn't plan to take a belt to his backside but it didn't sound good either. He wanted to go on that picnic.
Heath turned to Nick, "What d'you think, Nick? I don't think he's ready for fence mending, but the barn needs scraping and the south pasture needs to be cleared of rocks."
Nick scratched his chin and pursed his lips. "Tomorrow, son," he said in a normal tone, "when we get back from church and everyone else has gone on a picnic, you and me are gonna scrape the barn, and that includes the pig sty, and then we're gonna pick up all the rocks outta the south pasture. Only, you're gonna do it and I'm gonna watch to make sure you do it and do it right" Then he added, "And I'm not gonna be happy to have to miss the picnic." It was a warning.
"You better get back in the house and get yourself ready for bed," Heath said, "'cause you have a long day ahead of you."
James walked slowly out of the barn and toward the house. His encounter with his uncles wasn't as bad as he thought it would be but it wasn't fun, either. It stung that he couldn't go on the picnic and picking up rocks all day didn't sound like a good time. He wondered what "scraping the barn" meant.
Tom had invited Jarrod to join the boys' poker game but Jarrod looked at Daniel and smiled. "No, thanks," he said, "I don't like losing." He apologized to Jane for not discussing James' punishment with her but he didn't regret the outcome. In fact, he thought it was rather clever.
In the billiards room, Sarah sat on the sofa working on some needlepoint while Grace leaned against her, reading a magazine propped up on her knees. Julia, who adored her cousin Grace, had moved her rocking horse closer to the sofa so Grace could see how well she rode. All the Barkley children learned to ride on that horse and every child gave it a different name. Tom and Will, only a year apart in age, used to have terrible fights over it when they were little. At the time, Nick thought they should get another rocking horse but Victoria wisely suggested the boys learn to share.
Nick and Heath followed James into the house through the front door and stopped in the parlor to have a drink. Audra was there with Emily, reading the most recently arrived telegrams and jotting down the senders' names for future thank you cards. She looked up at her brothers and smiled, "Well?" she asked. And they told her what the nephew's punishment was to be.
James found his mother in the billiards room and, ignoring his father and everyone else there, he stood in front of her and informed her that his uncles were making him miss the picnic and were going to make him work and on a Sunday, too. He was hoping she would object and intervene on his behalf.
Instead, she reached out and straightened the third shirt he'd worn that day and said, "That's too bad. Maybe next time, you will do as you are told."
Jarrod and Jane gathered their children to return to the guesthouse for the night. Heath and Sarah told their daughters to get ready to go home, too. Grace, however, chose to stay the night at the big house, as she sometimes did.
Heath left his horse at the stable and climbed into the carriage with Sarah and Leah, making sure to sit between them. Leah was a lot like her mother; quiet but industrious, stubborn and, at times, outspoken, quick-witted. While this made them naturally close, in recent years it had caused them to be very much at odds with each other at times. Heath was frustrated watching the increasing arguments between his wife and daughter.
Tonight, as they rode home, they talked about Grace's heroism. Leah was proud of her sister but she wanted everyone to be proud of her, too, in the same way. Sarah was critical of Leah's lack of enthusiasm regarding her sister and things just deteriorated from there. Heath thought about Jane's suggestion that Leah consider college. Grace would likely prefer to remain on the ranch; she wasn't much interested book learning but Leah was and she was good at it, too. He decided to mention the idea of college to Sarah, then Leah. Soon.
Julia fell asleep quickly after Emily tucked her in. Nick had gone alone to tuck Daniel in so he could tell him all the ways he was proud of him. Emily had told him, "he needs to hear that from you," and Nick agreed, though he admitted to himself he wouldn't have thought of it on his own.
Emily went to say good night to Carrie. Carrie was in her nightgown, blond curls falling almost to her waist. As she got into bed she said, "Mother, I miss Grandma and, well, it's been nice having the cousins here and Uncle Jarrod and Aunt Jane and especially Aunt Audra and Vicky and Ellie are really nice and we're having a good time but I keep remembering why they're all here and I don't think we're being very respectful of Grandma."
Emily sat on the bed, smiled at the very long and breathless statement, and asked her to explain a little more. Emily was very familiar with grief. She was a widow at 22, her young husband having died a sudden, tragic death. She knew personal sorrow and she knew the rules and expectations others place on the appearance of mourning. Both had nearly cost her the life and love she now enjoyed.
"Well," Carrie said, "the picnic and the celebrating tonight aren't proper mourning."
Emily nodded. "Caroline, everyone grieves differently and it is perfectly natural for you not to want to do 'fun' things because you are sad about Grandma and everyone will understand. But life does go on; babies are born, flowers bloom, the sun continues to shine. Your grandmother would not want you to spend all of your days sad because she died, I am sure of that. Sometimes, people will think you're not grieving enough and other times they'll wonder why you're so gloomy. Don't let over people's rules tell you how to feel."
Carrie considered that her mother was saying. Emily stood and said, "I know you're grieving. We're all grieving and I think you should expect to get a lot sadder as the days pass and your heart begins to truly understand that Grandma is gone forever." She leaned down, kissed her daughter, and started to leave.
"Mother?" Emily stopped and turned around. "Vicky's going to ask Aunt Jane if I can come stay with them in San Francisco for a little bit. If she says 'Yes' can I go?"
"We'll see," Emily said. She still didn't like the idea of a fourteen-year-old riding the train alone.
Next, Emily peeked in on Grace in the small guest room she always slept in, the room referred to as "Grace's room." Grace was in bed, not quite asleep, and picked her head up off the pillow when the door opened. Emily walked over to her, gave her a kiss on the cheek, rubbed the girl's back, and shook her head, "You are really something, Grace," she said. "Your parents are so proud of you - I'm proud of you, too - but I thought your mother and father were going to burst wide open tonight." Grace giggled a little bit and put her head back on the pillow to sleep.
Walking past the guestroom on her way to join Nick in theirs, she stopped in the open doorway to say good night to Audra but Audra wasn't there. The lamps were all lit and as she peered around, her heart skipped a beat as she realized the trunks and bags were missing. For one terrifying moment, she thought Audra had slipped away and returned to Seattle and Charles.
"Emily!" Audra said warmly, walking up behind her in the hallway.
"Oh, Audra! You gave me quite a scare! Where are all your bags?"
Audra entered the room and gestured towards a corner. "Why, I put them over here after I unpacked and put my clothes away" She studied Emily's face and realized what Emily had been thinking. She stepped towards her and took her hands in hers. "Emily, I'm not sure what's going to happen and I don't like not knowing but I can't go back to him now." She paused. "I'm not sure I will ever be ready go back to him."
"Audra, think about what happened today. You were an enormous help with Jane and then helping stitch up our little cowboy." They both laughed. "I really do need you here and I am so glad you've decided to stay. I'm glad for me, I'm glad for you. I am especially glad for Carrie and Julia because they absolutely adore you."
Audra and Emily embraced and kissed. After Emily left, Audra thought, it feels good to be truly needed and useful.
Walking down the hall, Emily realized Audra would be the perfect escort for a fourteen-year-old girl on a train. She smiled as she also considered that direct exposure to Jane's suffragist politics would likely spell the blessed end of Audra's marriage to that man.